


In The Still Hours

by worldturnedupsidedown



Series: Woobie Bingo [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Sand Siblings-centric, Sibling Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-02
Updated: 2016-10-02
Packaged: 2018-08-19 04:44:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8190511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/worldturnedupsidedown/pseuds/worldturnedupsidedown
Summary: Gaara has too much time to think when everyone's asleep.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Done for the insomnia, bloodstains and need squares on the Wobbie Bingo at the Imzy comm. I didn't have time to completely finish it off on the comm so this is a little extended.

Gaara paced the camp, careful to keep his footsteps light so he didn't wake his brother or sister. His inability to sleep had never bothered him quite so much before, but now he was on his way back to Suna after the Chuunin exams and Naruto Uzumaki and things were different. There was too much to think about, too much to consider, and the night hours stretched out long and lonely.

He watched his brother and sister for a moment, their deep slow breaths helping to calm Gaara like no meditation ever could. Shukaku was muttering in the back of his mind but Gaara had a strength of conviction he didn't have before and he found it easier to ignore the demon's calling for his siblings' blood.

He rubbed his hand over the hole in his clothes where Sasuke Uchiha had pierced his sand armour and made him bleed. The bloodstains were something he was unused to finding on his own clothes and it rubbed the stained cloth between his fingers, flakes of dried blood coming off on his fingers.

Would he be able to achieve Naruto's goal of getting recognition and respect from the villagers? From what Gaara could tell, Naruto had done nothing except for having the demon sealed inside of him, while Gaara had murdered countless shinobi and villagers. If he had learned anything from watching people over the years, it was that some things could not be forgiven. He was not like Naruto, fighting against an unwarranted prejudice, the fear and hatred the villagers and shinobi of the Sand had for him was completely justified. 

He shook his head viciously. Shukaku had taken advantage of his doubt and was now loudly proclaiming that it was hopeless and it was better if he just went back to feeding the sand blood.

It was so much harder to ignore him at night.

"Gaara?" Temari's voice had him swinging around in an undignified move. The Uchiha had not only pierced his sand armour, but also his sense of invulnerability. If the Uchiha and that Lee kid had been fast enough to get past it, there would be others who could do the same.

"Temari," he said, his voice rasping over his throat. "I thought you were sleeping."

"I was," she answered. She got up from her sitting position, every move slow so not to anger the demon. It was an old habit she and Kankuro had developed over the years and it gave Gaara the old chest pain he had complained of to Yashamaru all those years ago. "Then I saw you were pacing and I wondered if you were okay."

"Temari, I need..." Gaara stopped. What right did he have to ask Temari for what he needed? He had terrified and tormented her through the years, blighted her childhood with his presence, and now someone had literally beaten sense into him, he wanted her to give more? No, he had made a choice not to live only for himself any more. His siblings had more than paid their dues, he shouldn't ask for more. 

"What, Gaara? What do you need?" She approached him, her footsteps light. Kankuro turned in his sleep before settling again. "Please tell me." Her eyes were steady and blue and they made Gaara feel restless. 

Many answers filled Gaara's mind and he turned over which one he wanted to give. "I have blood on my hands. How can I ever be accepted by the village when I have slaughtered them by the dozens?" This was the most he had ever spoken to his sister without a death threat and he could see the lines of surprise in her face, obviously having to get used to the new Gaara.

"You start small," she answered without hesitating on her words. "You start with Kankuro and me and then we help you get the rest of the villagers."

Gaara took a breath. "And how do I start?"

Temari took a step closer, closer than she had ever been before. Gaara could see the tension coiled in her frame, though her expression remained perfectly still. This was obviously as new for her as it was for him, so he didn't step away, though his experience told him the only reason someone would want to be this close to him would be if they wished him harm. 

"You've already started. When you apologised to us after the fight." Her hand reached out and froze as his sand reacted instinctively and wrapped around her wrist. It wasn't crushing, it was simply preventing her from reaching out to him. 

Gaara grit his teeth and forcefully pulled the sand back into his gourd. Temari wasn't going to harm him and he wanted to feel her, he wanted to feel his sister touch him in something other than pain or fear. Her hand continued until it rested on his uninjured shoulder, the touch warm and firm. He let out a breath. 

"See?" Temari said quietly. "You already know what to do. You are trying to make amends for hurting us before and you are making sure you don't hurt us again. Others may not accept the new you, but you keep trying and you know that Kankuro and I... we're always behind you. And if Kankuro stops pretending to sleep, he can tell you the same thing." 

"Well, you're always so much better at words than me," Kankuro said where he had sat up without Gaara noticing. He startled a little, obvious to Temari's watchful eyes, at having another person there for this conversation. "But Temari's right, Gaara. You're our brother. We've survived Shukaku and our father together, we can survive you turning over a new leaf." There was a moment's pause and then he snorted. "Turning over a new leaf in the Leaf. Get it?" 

Temari rolled her eyes and ignored him. "Come on, Gaara. I know you can't sleep but you can at least rest." She removed her hand to lead the way to where her and Kankuro had been sleeping and Gaara followed her automatically. 

He had his brother and sister to protect and help him. Somehow earning the villagers' respect didn't seem so impossible.


End file.
